The story: Iran has appointed Saeid Iravani as its new ambassador to the United Nations in New York. The seasoned diplomat has over the past year led five rounds of talks with Saudi Arabia in Baghdad. Moreover, Iravani is notably the first Iranian ambassador to the UN to have served in the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), which answers directly to the supreme leader.

The details: Iravani will be replacing Majid Takht-Ravanchi, a former deputy foreign minister who was among the lead negotiators of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Given that Abbas Araghchi—another former deputy foreign minister and nuclear negotiator—also stepped down last year, the diplomatic team of ex-president Hassan Rouhani (2013-21) has effectively been dismantled.

• “The visa has been issued,” a senior Iranian source confirmed to Amwaj.media, elaborating that “it took about two months to issue the visa, which is not unusual.”...